It’s no news that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is the longest serving manager ever at the club however what is new is that despite the credit he has received over the years for his development of players he has also invested in others that eventually turned out to be a failed venture.
Former and present players like Thierry Henry (France), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Patrick Vieira (France), Theo Walcott (England), Robert Pires (France), Freddy Ljunberg (Sweden), Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast), Lauren Etame Meyer (Cameroon), Ashley Cole (England), Laurent Koscielny (France) and many more are some of his success stories however for the purpose of this article lets briefly take a look at the top three failed transfers in his era.
1. Francis Jeffers (England)
Francis Jeffers, described then as a fox in the box, is a strong contender for the worst signing of the Arsene Wenger era so far having made a £10m move to Arsenal from Merseyside club Everton before producing just 4 goals in two highly underwhelming seasons at the club. There was nothing ‘fox in the box’ about him.
2. Andrei Arshavin (Russia)
The petite playmaker started life at the Emirates Stadium on a good note highlighted by his four goals in the thrilling 4-4 scoreline with Liverpool however things took a turn for worse for the £15m signing from Zenit St. Petersburg before he finally left the club. He failed to live up to expectation but still weighed in with 23 goals in 105 appearances.
3. Julio Baptista (Brazil)
He came to Arsenal on a season-long loan from Real Madrid and with a reputation of scoring goals however that soon deserted him at the Emirates Stadium. He battled with injuries and loss of form leading to just 3 goals in 24 appearances in his one and only season at the club.
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